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Lot 360
[Apollo 15] THE SOLAR CORONA FROM LUNAR ORBIT: an exceptional view captured from CSM Endeavour Alfred Worden, 26 July - 7 August 1971
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche€600 - €800
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[Apollo 15] THE SOLAR CORONA FROM LUNAR ORBIT: an exceptional view captured from CSM Endeavour
Alfred Worden, 26 July - 7 August 1971
Printed 1971.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS15-98-13400].
Numbered "NASA AS15-98-13400" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
An extremely rare Space Oddity: the solar corona from lunar orbit.
This pioneering and mesmerizing unpublished photograph is among the first of its kind, taken by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden while he orbited the Moon alone aboard CSM Endeavour.
The solar corona—the outermost atmosphere of the Sun—is seen extending beyond the Moon's horizon in this remarkable image, captured just before lunar sunrise. This was part of one of three such photographic series obtained by Worden during the solo phase of his mission, marking one of humanity's first-ever views of this region of the Sun's light.
These images not only provided groundbreaking insight into the coronal structure and solar wind—demonstrating the unique advantage of space exploration in studying the Sun's outer atmosphere without interference from Earth's atmosphere—but also revealed the otherworldly beauty of space imagery, offering a rare glimpse of the Sun's ethereal glow from deep space.
Printed 1971.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS15-98-13400].
Numbered "NASA AS15-98-13400" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
An extremely rare Space Oddity: the solar corona from lunar orbit.
This pioneering and mesmerizing unpublished photograph is among the first of its kind, taken by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden while he orbited the Moon alone aboard CSM Endeavour.
The solar corona—the outermost atmosphere of the Sun—is seen extending beyond the Moon's horizon in this remarkable image, captured just before lunar sunrise. This was part of one of three such photographic series obtained by Worden during the solo phase of his mission, marking one of humanity's first-ever views of this region of the Sun's light.
These images not only provided groundbreaking insight into the coronal structure and solar wind—demonstrating the unique advantage of space exploration in studying the Sun's outer atmosphere without interference from Earth's atmosphere—but also revealed the otherworldly beauty of space imagery, offering a rare glimpse of the Sun's ethereal glow from deep space.